


Blood Moon Rising

by MonstrousDayDream



Category: Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013), Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, OCs in that Hansel and Gretel's descedents are running around, i wouldn't call it gory but you might
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-03-15
Packaged: 2018-05-20 22:26:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6027646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MonstrousDayDream/pseuds/MonstrousDayDream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A violent kidnapping brings new threats and potential allies to Storybrooke. Emma and her family are about to learn there is magic in the modern world, and it’s not for the faint of heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. New Witch in Town

**Author's Note:**

> Set about a year or two after S5, with Dragon Swan Queen because I want my witchy ladies happy and together, dammit. And I don’t know how to write a proper romantic development without enough angst to kill off a character, sooo we’re just gonna establish it at the get go.
> 
> Also, I have no idea if I want the town cut off from the world or not, because witches and some boundaries don't apply.

Rare were the nights Maleficent ignored the urge to fly. This was not a night she ignored the call of the sky. She could feel trouble coming, and once she was sure her nest was safe in Regina’s home, she took to the skies. The night was clear, the stars bright, but there was a foul taste to the air, even so high up.

Nothing moved in the small town below her. A first hint. Though the wildlife kept itself to the woods, there were still creatures who were more accustomed to what humans left for them. Yet not a single creature crept between the shadows.

The screams made Maleficent wheel about. She let out a roar, both as warning to whoever caused danger and as a call to arms to those who may have slept through the piercing wail. Lily was awake, having felt the urge as well, but kept to the house. She would wake Regina and Emma, if they didn’t feel Mal’s call. 

A house burst into flames far too suddenly to be anything besides magic. Maleficent landed in the street and pulled the foul magic into her dragon form, stopping the spread of flames. Something in her twisted at the kind of magic she took in, and she forced herself to make that power her own. Behind the house, something took to the air, a screaming child in it’s hold. Maleficent knew Emma and Regina would arrive here soon enough, and so made to go after the escaping kidnapper.

A blast of magic so foul and powerful made her heart stutter and her lungs stop. She was forced to take human form under the onslaught. It tasted like death in her mouth and her mind raced at the thought of some sort of necromancer in Storybrooke. She could feel more of the sickly magic coming at her, and she raised her magic, but braced herself because she would have to take some of it-

A different kind of magic whizzed past her, knocking the dark green energy into a nearby tree. A woman Maleficent didn’t recognized ran up and shot another blast of bright blue magic at the twisted figure emerging from the house. This too was knocked away. The new brunette blocked a long attack, and Maleficent took the opportunity to cast a powerful fireball.

Knocked away as well, and Mal had to call the fire back to her before it set another house ablaze. Regina arrived and let her magic stream out without question as to why they were attacking. The three combined efforts made the witch stumble. She threw her magic into the ground, causing the concrete to tear and shudder under their feet.

The young stranger snarled something foreign before shouting, “Alex!”

Two gunshots answered. The advancing, disfigured witch crumpled to the ground. Two people came stumbling out of the house, men with a woman held between them. “Jackie, she’s still alive!” shouted the man with the gun.

Jackie ran forward, ignoring the rotting body as the woman was lain on the grass. Maleficent stepped forward, feeling Regina at her side. Their bond of magic was telling Regina that Mal had taken some kind of nasty spell, but now wasn’t the time. Jackie crashed to her knees beside the pale woman and immediately started speaking a language of mystery and power, wand raised in the air. 

Tiny orbs of light sprung from the trees, the grass, the bushes around the house. The pinpricks of light gathered in the crystal set in the middle of the wand, and after a long minute, the wand was touched to the woman’s heart. Instead of being on the brink of death, life filled her and she gasped, calling out a name. No doubt the child who was taken.

“Well,” Regina said, breaking the brief, awed silence. “Now that everyone is out of immediate danger,” she raised a hand with a bright fireball, “the two of you have five minutes to explain what the hell just happened in my town.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Hansel and Gretel were on OUAT. I'm changing things around because their being on the show or not doesn't change the story.

Regina watched as the two strangers traded looks before standing. Alex nodded towards the back of the house. “See if you can track them. I’ll handle explanations and the body.”

Jackie nodded once and pointed her wand at the corpse while holding out her hand. There was a rustle of wind and leaves, and Regina saw a large tree branch fly into the outstretched palm. Dirt from the dead body’s shoes gathered on the wand tip, and seemed to tug towards the words once within a small, translucent orb. She straddle the branch and took to the air, following the pull of dirt.

Alex ran a hand through his hair. “I’m Alex, that’s my twin, Jackie. We’re hunting down a coven of witches who are gathering twelve children as a sacrifice for a ceremony that will make them invulnerable to all known ways of killing them.”

Regina had no reason to doubt him at the moment. “I doubt this child was the first one taken.”

“No. He’s the eleventh. We only realized what was happening when they had half the kids they needed.” He was looking at her, not the fireball, and didn’t seem at all bothered by it. “They’ve been working their way up the coast, never staying long enough for us to really catch up.”

“Why twelve?” Maleficent asked, testy at having strange magic within her.

“Once for each of the star signs. They only need a male Leo, now.”

Regina didn’t need to say a word before Maleficent was gone in a swirl of smoke and magic. Not only was Henry in danger, but his unborn little brother. She saw no need to tell this to Alex, who merely raised an eyebrow. “And if your sister can find them?”

“If the coven is together, she won’t risk a fight. If she can save this kid now, she will. We’re both hoping they’ve gathered near by, it’ll be easier to stop them if we’ve caught up.”

“And how, exactly, are you planning on stopping an entire coven of witches?”

He shrugged and motioned to the dead body. “Same way we’ve dealt with every other evil thing we find: shoot it until it stops moving.”

Regina rolled her eyes. “That’s a perfectly sound plan. You’re coming with me. I’m not allowing two strangers free reign within these boarders, and I don’t actually trust you.”

“Fair enough.” He went over to the corpse and dropped a glowing red rock on it. Flames shot out and devoured the dead body, seeming to pull it into the stone until nothing was left but some ash on the concrete. He picked it back up and slipped it back in his pocket. Then he whistled, a low sound that carried down the street.

From the gathered crowd stepped out a large, shaggy dog with a small girl holding onto his collar. Alex picked her up and pat the dog on the head. The girl asked no questions, just tucked her head down and seemed to go to sleep. “My daughter,” was all he said.

Regina had bigger things to worry about. So she wrapped magic around them and brought them to the manor. Nothing dangerous could enter after Maleficent and Emma combined dragon and Savior magic. This would be the test the man would either pass or fail. Only then would Regina truly make a decision about these two witch hunters.


	3. A Meeting of Minds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This did not go the way I was expecting. Eh, I'll manage to work in the whole "Hansel and Gretel were real" somewhere. I'm changing it so that they're a story in the Enchanted Forest, because this is fanfiction and I can do that.

Emma made her way downstairs and sighed when she saw Maleficent at work. “If you put up any more wards, Henry’s gonna be the only one who can get into the house.” After all, given the pasts of the adults who frequented the Mansion, they all were tinged with some kind of darkness.

“At the moment, he’s the only one who really needs it.” Mal did lower her hands, though, and raised an eyebrow at Emma. “And I hope you have no plans on leaving while there’s a coven of child killing witches in town.”

Emma raised her hands in surrender. “I won’t go anywhere. Just, maybe focus on the yard for a bit, in case they set the plants on fire, or something.”

Mal seemed to seriously consider it, and was about to head out when the front door opened. Regina walked in, followed by a young man with a girl in his arms. A large dog was sitting in the walkway, too still and too calm for Emma’s comfort. The wards didn’t give any warning, which Emma thought was a good thing. Regina and Maleficent obviously felt otherwise. 

“Why don’t the wards touch you?” Mal demanded, refraining from lighting a fireball if only because there was a child in the man’s arms.

“Magic has no effect on us. It’s the blessing of our blood.”

Regina was even more frustrated then she was fifteen seconds ago. “Convenient.”

“We can have this conversation outside.” He didn’t seem bothered by their suspicions, but he might be used to it. 

“Just don’t make any attempt to do magic,” Regina warned before leading the way into her the sitting room to the side of the foyer.

“I don’t do the magic, Jackie does.” He settled the girl on the couch and stood behind her, a hand on her head. She continued to sleep, undisturbed by movement and voices. Henry and Lily stood in the doorway, cellphones out to relay the meeting to Emma’s parents.

Emma sat heavily, and didn’t bother to protest the glass of water Regina summoned for her. Instead, she tried to catch up with what Mal had told her. “So there’s a coven collecting children to sacrifice for immortality. First question, how did any of you get here? Because I’m pretty sure this town is still not on any maps.”

He shrugged. “If this is a hidden place, then it’s only hidden to non-magic users. And if you haven’t seen any other magic users, well, usually no one likes to mess with things that are hidden. There tends to be a reason, and those reasons are usually deadly.”

“There shouldn’t be any magic users outside this town,” Mal said, sounding far too curious for Emma’s comfort. The last time Mal got too interested in something, Lily had gone into hiding to prove a point. Emma really didn’t want her friend and current link to sanity to hide for weeks until Mal noticed. 

“You can ask Jackie about that.”

“Can I ask you about this ceremony, or are you going to claim to know nothing about that, either?” Regina asked.

He sighed. “The Blood Moon ceremony can be performed every fifteen years, though the location changes every time due to the flow of magic. It requires the lives of twelve children and the heart of the current Grand White Witch.” 

“Do you know who that is and if she’s protected?” Mal asked.

He grimaced. “That would be my sister.”

Regina pinched the bridge of her nose. “The woman who is currently flying towards those who want her dead?”

He snorted. “If they could’ve captured her by now, they would’ve. They’ll wait until they have all the children and the entire coven is gathered. They’re no match for either of us.”

“Someone’s confident,” Lily muttered.

“Considering I was raised to hunt evil and managed to survive this long, yeah, I’m confident. Look, you don’t have to believe me. But I’m asking you not to hinder me.”

There was a single, solitary bark from outside. The girl on the couch woke and looked up at the man. “Aunt Lyn’s hurt.”

Henry left to answer the knock on the door and led a bleeding woman into the room. Emma could see the resemblance in their dark hair and eyes. 

“Well if you’re hurt, at least one of them is dead.”

“Two, thank you very much.” She crouched in front of the girl and said, “Tune out, Beth, I don’t want you catching sight of anything.”

“Can’t help it. Things are different here.”

“Then I want you to wear the pendent. The coven’s staying close, so things are gonna get worse and you don’t need the nightmares.” 

The kid blew a raspberry but pulled a small crystal on a chain out of her sweater pouch. She looped it around her neck and the color seemed to return to her a bit more. “I like Edward better.”

“Well Edward’s not allowed indoors and there’s no way you’re staying outside alone. Deal with it, munchkin.”

“Not a munchkin.” But she closed her eyes and seemed to pass out again.

Maleficent went to them and healed the wound without even looking at it. Instead, she was staring at the girl. “A seer child.”

“Yeah, that’s what happens when my idiot brother bones a succubus.” She stood and nodded at Mal. “Thanks.”

“I didn’t know she was a succubus,” the man muttered.

“Showed an interest in you, didn’t she?”

“Where’s the coven?” Regina demanded, clearly annoyed with the banter and wanting to regain control.

“A mile up the cost, under some pretty intense wards.” The hunter focused on Regina, not bothered at all by her attitude. “I couldn’t save the girl, they were waiting for me. But since they’ve set up instead of kept going, they’ll be coming back here for the last kid. If we can gather all the boys in this town born under the Leo star sign, we might be able to hold them off until the Blood Moon passes tomorrow night.”

“Why not attack the coven?” Lily asked. “There are two other very powerful witches in this room besides you. Well, two that are allowed to leave the house.” She smirked at Emma, who flipped her off.

She shrugged. “We could do that, but this coven exists because they’ve managed to avoid or survive me and my bother, our parents, and every other hunter who’s come after them. All of us in here might be very powerful, but there are two dozen witches there who can do a lot worse now that they’re together and so very close to getting what they want.”

Emma pointed at Alex. "He said they wouldn't be able to handle the two of you together."

Jackie reached out to whack him upside the head. "You can't be stupid and leave Beth alone, and I'm not going up against a Grand Dark Witch without it being a Summer Solstice." She looked at Emma. "Under the right circumstances, we'd toss enough grenades to register as an earthquake. But they have hostages."

Her bother braced himself on the couch. “This is your town, and we want your help. We’ll follow your lead if it means cooperation instead of conflicting plans that give them the advantage.” 

Regina nodded. “Will they attack again tonight?” 

“No, but they’ll try before sunset tomorrow.”

“Henry, tell Snow to go to the hospital and start pulling medical records for children born between July 23 and August 22. Have her contact those families and gather them in the school cafeteria.” She looked at the hunters. “Is there a cutoff age?”

Alex nodded. “Puberty or when their last baby tooth falls out, whichever happens first.”

“Got it,” Henry said. “I’m so glad I don’t have to worry about visits from the tooth fairy anymore.” He looked up from his phone. “Unless that’s a thing I should’ve been worried about?”

“She doesn’t exist as far as we know,” Mal said, looking at Jackie. “Unless she does?”

“Yeah, but that legend was actually mostly right.”

“Mostly?” Lily asked.

“I’ll tell you later. Beth…”

Lily nodded. She looked at Regina and asked, “Do you want me here or at the school?”

“Here. I’ll meet Snow at the school.” She looked at the hunters. “What about unborn children?”

Emma felt something heavy sit in her gut, and it wasn’t the baby. The way the siblings looked at each other didn’t mean anything good for her.

“I don’t want to say they won’t try it,” Jackie said. “Especially since it would prove just how powerful they are if they get past all these wards.” 

“You’ll take me to the coven,” Maleficent told Jackie. “I want to see what’s coming, maybe give them something to worry about themselves.”

“We can put Beth in a bed here,” Emma offered, not wanting the kid to be anymore worn out then she probably already was. She was even more grateful now that Henry had a steady home with Regina. She wouldn’t have been able to forgive herself for making him live a hard life either so poor or on the road.

“I would appreciate it,” Alex said, resting a hand on the small girl. “I’ll bring Edward to the school, he’ll add to the defenses there.”

Regina raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t think he was a normal dog, but now I’m curious.”

Alex grinned just a little. “He’s a Hell Hound.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty sure I can promise another chapter before the weekend, and then another on Saturday or Sunday.


	4. Prepare for trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, I totally got caught up in my Once marathon to write. Here's something from five in the morning.

Maleficent flew next to the witch who was riding a tree branch. A witch of this world, which shouldn’t have magic. A world that was supposed to be of science and technology. And yet here was magic.

Jackie was explaining things as they flew. Using magic. Apparently, in this world, people could use magic, but it didn’t come from within them. Magic lay in the living things, plants and animals. Those who could use magic had to pull it out of living things. The witch they killed was so ugly and her power so painful because she had pulled all the life out of her sources. To kill with such greed made the witch into something just as hideous.

Jackie remained normal looking, she said, by taking only a little here and there, storing power in stones and crystals and her wand. Because she respected magic, magic couldn’t corrupt her.

One thing that didn’t change between their worlds, the magic user could only control what they could handle. So while all non-human life on Earth was a magical resource, no single witch was going to be that powerful to channel all that magic.

Maleficent could smell the first guards before they came flying out of the forest. She opened her jaws and let the fire fly. Jackie fell back to fly beside her body and not her neck, staying out of Mal’s way and firing counters to any blasts aimed at them. Mal killed five before they got smart and cast fire repellent spells on themselves. When her fire couldn’t defeat that, she may have gotten a bit more angry then she should’ve.

Two were eaten before they fled behind their protection spell. The area of sea cliffs the coven would be using wasn’t big, but that meant the stones powering the spell were combined instead of stretched thin. Neither dragon nor witch could get through, and Jackie couldn’t even disturb the land the stone were under.

“I know how to deal with this when we attack,” Jackie said as they returned to town. “But it’ll need more than the two of us, anyway. Mostly because you’re terrifying to bite sized children.”

Maleficent wouldn’t have argued even if she did have the voice for it. She didn’t want to eat anymore witches from this world if she could help it. The two she did were already giving her heartburn.  
~  
Regina was listening to Snow, but she was also watching the hunter. He was putting up his own wards in the form of power stones at each corner of the cafeteria. There were eight other children born under the Leo sign who were at risk, and their families were gathered here with them. The cafeteria was a bit large for so few people, but it would mean the coven would have to expend more energy attacking in order to corner the children. 

Outside, the hellhound was prowling. Alex had explained Edward was a guardian sent to protect Beth, a gift from her mother’s family. Regina didn’t ask if the succubus part was true, or where the woman was now. It wasn’t her business, and she didn’t want to distract from what needed doing.

The stones glowed white and Regina felt something pass over her skin. It wasn’t powerful, it didn’t feel like magic as she knew it. But she could see Snow’s eyes lose a bit of their fear, could hear how calmer people were. A subtle magic offering feelings of safety. Calm in the face of danger would certainly help keep people from getting killed.

The hunter came to them and pulled a large water bottle out of his backpack of supplies. “We should use this on all these weapons, it’s blessed by an old spell.” And Regina was a bit grateful he didn’t ask why Snow carried bow and arrows, why some of the fathers had swords, why Maleficent could become a dragon. 

“Why not just bless the weapons?” Snow asked even as she dipped a cloth and wiped down her arrow heads.

“The spell requires water because at the time, it was abundant, mobile, and versatile. One spell on a jug of water could protect horses, weapons, and food. The language used for magic is very specific, so instead of coming up with multiple spells to do the same thing…”

Regina nodded. “One spell for a thing that can then be applied to almost anything else.” 

There were three sharp barks from outside that made a hush fall over the cafeteria. Alex headed for the doors and told them it was just an alert. Maleficent and Jackie walked into the building, and Regina noticed when Mal handed a small, dark stone back to Jackie. She raised an eyebrow at her, and Mal shook her head. “Don’t eat strange witches.”

Regina knew something was wrong with Mal, and it was more than that. “I’ll keep that in mind.” She called Emma’s phone and Snow called her prince at the station so they could discuss what the Reconnaissance had found. 

“I can take down the shield when we’re ready to strike,” Jackie assured. “I can use the woods to draw power, which will keep me away from the fight while still connected to enough magic to protect myself and bring down their spell.”

“Edward stays with you,” Alex said.

“Edward stays in town so Peru doesn’t happen again.”

“Peru?” Regina asked.

Jackie sighed. “Last time, they sent trolls to destroy the town while the children were rescued. They had nothing to go home to.”

“I can stand guard,” Snow offered. “Most of them will be busy dealing with Regina or Maleficent, so any that decide you’re the easier target shouldn’t be too powerful.”

“Well, you just jinxed that,” Jackie said, “but it should work. Now, we need people to lead and protect the children awa-“

Henry’s voice rang out from the phone’s speaker. “They’re here!” There was a muffled roar announcing Lily’s change.

Outside, Edward barked twice. Mal’s eyes glowed as she headed for the doors, and Jackie drew her wand while Alex grabbed his guns. Snow directed the former knights into position. Regina’s hands filled with fire as she headed for the door. This was her town, and how dare these second hand witches terrorize it.


	5. Chapter 5

The battle was a furious meeting of powers. Grass, trees, and bushes died instantly as witches drew the life energy to twist and hurtle at the cafeteria guardians. Maleficent and Regina had to watch their fires due to the dry vegetation all around them. The gun shots that echoed between the buildings made ears ring all around. There were shouts of pain and drying cries on both sides. 

When it was over, it was over suddenly. The dark witches left standing suddenly took to the air, casting a few spells to discourage followers. When Jackie made to follow on her own tree branch, she was stopped by Edward taking off while barking madly. Maleficent suddenly took wing as well.

“I’ll take care of the bodies,” Alex told his sister. “Go check on the house.”

Jackie took off. Alex pulled multiple glowing red stones and started dropping them on the bodies of the witches. Snow started to round up the able bodied to help with the injured while Regina made sure no one was missing. Henry called her and his voice was frantic before she could get the word “Hello” out.

“They took Emma!”  
~  
Maleficent looked at what remained of her home and roared in anger. Finding her daughter with shredded wings and smelling Emma’s blood sent her into a rage that called for death. She almost killed Jackie when the witch arrived. Maleficent couldn’t heal her child, she never delved into healing magic. She wasn’t sure Regina could manage the mixture her small amount of white magic and dragon magic.

“If I promise to help, will you let me near her?” Jackie asked, still in the air and a bit further away.

Mal snarled but settled next to Lily. As much as she wanted no one to touch her injured daughter, someone had to heal her. Mal hovered her head over Lily’s to keep the younger dragon from snapping at Jackie as she landed. The witch put her backpack on the ground and pulled out a bright red, textured column that smelled of fire and blood. Mal decided to ignore the muttered, “I hope this works.”

The wand tapped the source of magic, drew it out in a line of fire, and then point at Lily’s injuries. Jackie was speaking words of magic, the gruttural sound almost pleasing to Mal’s ears. Lily hissed and squirmed as her wings healed, but otherwise made no protest. When she was healed, both dragons became human again. Jackie was sweating, and the column seemed dimmed.

“What is it?” Lily asked as Henry and Beth ran out towards them.

“Dragon heartstring, willing given,” Jackie said, putting it away.

“There are dragons in this world?” Mal demanded even as she looked Henry over for injuries; Regina wouldn’t easily forgive her son being ignored for curiosity.

Jackie gave her a look that said the witch picked up on that phrasing. But she didn’t ask or push. “Almost every culture in this world has some kind of dragon myth. Yeah, they’re real. Just well hidden.”

“They took Emma,” Henry said. “They were saying they were just going to cut out the baby, but some strange witch stopped them.” He looked at Jackie. “She didn’t look as disgusting at all. She looked normal.”

“Grand Dark Witch. What did she say?”

“The Leo child and the heart of a Grand White Witch were too good a package to pass up.” He shook his head. “But she can’t be a Grand White Witch, not after…what happened.”

“I’ve killed people and I’m still considered one. As much as we all want to go after them right now, we need to regroup and plan a proper attack. They can’t do a gods damned thing until the Blood Moon is at it’s peak tonight.”

Edward ran into the yard and sniffed Beth all over. The child pet him and let him sniff, not protesting one bit. Jackie knelt down and slowly guided the hell hound to face her. “Edward.” He looked her in the eye, his own glowing with the fires of damnation. “Give them Hell.”

He tilted his head back and howled. Something made the dragons shiver. In the distance, more howls joined the chorus. Edward shook his out and seemed to grow. Then he bounded away, in the direction of the dark coven. Mal gathered them all in her magic to take them to the school. She doubted there would be much of a plan besides, “Attack!” but at least they could figure out where to attack from.  
~  
Emma used the dark witches’ careful handling of her to her advantage, sending a blast of Savior magic at a couple standing too close to the edge of the cliff. They screamed as they fell, but Emma didn’t get a chance to hear them thud before a knife was pressed to her throat.

“I can’t kill you yet, but I don’t need you conscious.” The Dark witch pressed some kind of leaf under Emma’s nose. “I’ll wake you just in time to feel your child being cut out of you. Then I’ll have your heart.” Emma shot her with magic just before she passed it. She could only hope it hurt.


End file.
